Seattle hardware startup Mason navigates tariff uncertainty with ‘elastic’ supply chain strategy

Seattle startup Mason is seeing impacts from the tariff chaos on multiple levels.

The company, which sells customized mobile devices for businesses with frontline workers, is one of many hardware makers rethinking their overseas manufacturing operations.

The startup is also noticing wariness from customers across various industries.

“You’re definitely seeing folks just more cautious and more timid,” said Mason CEO Jim Xiao. “They’re putting pause on million-dollar orders until they have better clarity.”

And when worries about a potential recession start percolating, “people get the jitters,” Xiao said.

Startups and big companies alike are scrambling to determine how to shift their businesses in light of President Trump’s tariff announcement earlier this month.

Trump last week announced a 90-day pause on “reciprocal” tariffs, with the exception of China.

Xiao said companies are trying to weigh both short-term plans over the next three months as well as longer-term moves.

Xiao, who helped launch Mason a decade ago, said the company is relying on an “elastic supply chain” strategy to deal with the broader economic and regulatory uncertainty.

Mason designs and builds its own mobile devices, giving the company more control over component sourcing and manufacturing mobility.

“Making a smartphone, there are about 300 separate components,” he said. “Being able to manage that at the vendor level is really important.”

This also helps the company move manufacturing to regions with more tariff-friendly policies. He said the company is primarily looking at India and Taiwan right now.

Mason has faced macroeconomic headwinds before. Founded in 2015, the startup went through “trials and tribulations” coming out of the pandemic, Xiao said. But now the company is profitable and is excited about the AI boom.

“If you look at the data that’s still needed for AI to really get to the next level, there’s still a lot of work to be done to create the right hardware to collect the data that’s missing,” Xiao said.

Mason focuses primarily on government, healthcare, and retail industries. Xiao said retailers are turning to Mason for help with crime prevention and safety improvements.

Last year the company hired former Docker COO Webb Stevens as CEO and former Qualtrics CTO John Thimsen as CTO. Both have stepped down but are still advising the company.

Mason more recently hired Renuka Ayer as its CFO. Ayer previously was CFO at Agility Robotics and Glowforge.

Mason has about 20 employees and has raised $29 million to date. The company is ranked No. 45 on the GeekWire 200, our list of top privately held startups in the Pacific Northwest.